English is an International Language and Must be Studied by All ---- AGAINST --- an essay

English is a language
which has marked the spread of its roots everywhere from North America to Australia.
There are very few places in the world which are left untouched by this universal
language. However, before imparting the status of mandatory language all over
the world, the history and origin of the language should be understood by all.
The history of the English language has traditionally been divided into three
main periods: Old English (450-1100 AD), Middle English (1100-1500 AD) and
Modern English (since 1500). Over the centuries, the English Language has been influenced
by a number of other languages.

Modern English (1500 to
the present) —
Modern English developed after William Caxton established his printing press in
1476. The invention of the printing press made books available to more people.
The books became cheaper and more people learned to read. Printing also brought
standardization to English. By the time of Shakespeare's Writings (1592-1616),
the language had become clearly recognizable as Modern English. There were
three big developments in the world at the beginning of Modern English period —
the renaissance the industrial revolution and the British Colonialism.

It was during the
English renaissance that most of the words from Greek and Latin entered English.
This period in English cultural history (early 16th century to the early 17th
century) is sometimes referred to as ‘the age of Shakespeare’ or ‘the Elizabethan
Era’ taking the name of the English renaissance's most famous author and most
important monarch respectively.

Hence, Modern English
is the language derived from several other languages. The impact this language has
in almost every region of world is not because it is easy to learn but because
it is the language which is predominantly spoken in Britain. Britain has
invaded almost every part of the world in some or the other time in history. It
is known that except 22 countries in the World Britain had their colonies
everywhere in the world. English was taken to all of these countries which
later became their language. In India Lord William Bentinck made English the medium
of higher education. During Home Rule Movement Bal Gangadhar Tilak raised his
voice in favour of education in vernacular languages. But during British rule
several Christian Schools were set up in northern part of India so as to make
it compulsory medium for primary education too. The only reason Indians speak
English is because centuries ago country was invaded, colonised and national languages
were suppressed. It wasn't for linguistic reasons that English dominated but
political.

If we rank the
languages on the basis of popularity Mandarin is the highest spoken language in
the world. It is much popular than English, then why is there a need to make
English international language? Making any language internationally acceptable
will eventually cause the extinction of several other languages. Young generations
in every country will learn only that language which they feel will help them
in their career, they will never learn national languages. This will someday
terminate diversity. Language is representation of culture; how can we eliminate
diversity of cultures by imposing a single language in every part of the world?
English should not be the international language. Neither should Spanish,
French, Mandarin or Arabic.

Learning of any
language is certainly not detrimental but giving a language mandatory status is
not acceptable when we wish to gift diversity of culture and customs to our
coming generations. And when we celebrate the joy of discovering differences in
various part of the world.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

English is an International Language and Must be Studied by All ---- AGAINST --- an essay
Reviewed by sambasivan srinivasan
on
10:40:00 AM
Rating: 5